peters



WQ wref N4 PETERS. PHOTO-UYMOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON D c NIETERS, PHOTQLITHOGRAPHER. WASNINGTON. I7V C @einen tetes' atsnt ffirs.

JOHN ASHWORTH, OF NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO` GEORGE L. DAVIS, JOHN A. WILEY, AND JOSEPH'M. STONE, -OF SAIKIE'PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 81,865, dated Septemer 8, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN OPERATING SHUTTLE-BOXES IN LOOMS.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONGERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN ASHWOB-Trnpof North Andover, in the county of Essex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Looms 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specication, in whichn d Figure 1 is a side elevation of the framing of' a loom, with my improvements attached.

Figure `2 is a plan.

Figure 3 is an end elevation; and

Figure 4 is a detached view of some of the details, which will he referred to in the description.

My invention relates to certainl improvements inthe mechanism for shifting the shuttlc-boxes'in looms that use several shuttles, by means of which the various changes required are made with mechanism of great simplieity,and lconsists inthe 'comhinatlonrof a lever with two cams, upon which the said leverrests, ai. different points' in its length, 'and by the movement of which cams in one direction only, either singly or collectively, the said lever is 'moved to such a position as to place the series of boxes, supported upon the end thereof, so as to bring the required shuttles opposite the race; and it also consists in certain details of construction, which will be hereafter described.

The mechanism shown in the drawing is adapted to working a series of four shuttle-boxes o'n each side of the loom, independent of each other.

A is the frame of the loom; B, the lay, provided with a series of four shifting shuttleboxes, B', at either end, as is shown; C, the crank-shaft that operates the lay, and D the cam-shaft that operates the harness, all constructed in the usual manner. i- Y E is' a lever, one end of which is connected, by the link E', with the standard F, upon the upper end of which the series of'shuttle-boxes is mounted. The lever E is jointed ata tothe radius-bar G, the opposite end of which works on a stud,vG, fixed in the frame of the loom.

H is a cam, placed below the lever E, upon which the lever rests 'at the point a, and I is another cam, against the lower side of which the back end of the lever E rests, being held up to the cam by the'weight of the shuttle-boxes and their attachments at the opposite 4end of the same. Those parts of the lever near the cam Aare slotted vertically, so as to allow the cams to work through-the same, and within the slots it is fitted with rollers, at a and b, to rest upon the surface ofthe cams, to avoid friction.

To the'cams I-I and I, respectively, are attached the ratchets J and K, each having eight teeth, sd that theV cams will be rotated one-eighth of a revolution at each reciprooation of' thepawls J' and K.

The pawls J" and K are attached to the levers L L', which vibrate upon the cam-shafts'IzIk and I,as seen more clearly in iig. 4. These levers are vibrated, when required, by means of the hook-rods M and M', which engage with the pawl N, attached to the lower end of the vibrating lever O. The hook-rods are each provided with catches, at c, which engage with the pawl N,.when the rods are raised up suciently to eiect the engagement. Each of the 'hook-rods is connected, by means of the connections d, with one of the levers l?, which rest upon a pattern-chain, Q, which -is provided with rollers or balls, of the proper size to place the levers P in position, and is operated in the usual way. The pattern-chain thus determines the order in which the cams H and I shall'he operated.l V I I The lever O is cscillated by means of the double cam R, on the cam-shaft D, and is drawn back by the spring e. The lower end of the lever O carries the pawl N, before mentioned, which engages' with the hookrods to rotate the cams, and also draws the hook-rods back', by means of the projectionfonthe back side of the lever, which acts against the oi'sets g on the hook-rods.`

S S, &c., are friction-straps, working on the hubs of the cams H and I, to hold them in' position when not moved by the mechanism. l i V In the drawing, the shifting-mechanism is shown as applied to a series of shuttle-boxes atboth sides of the loom, working independently of each other, and in such case the cams H and I, upon the back side of the loom, are fixed upon their shafts, which extend acrossrthe loom, andthe ratchets which work the same are xed p upon the shafts at the front side of the loom, while the cams H and I, with their ratchets, at the front-side of the loom, revolve loose upon.the shafts, which merely serve as bearings for them.

This arrangement of the mechanism is hdopted for the purpose of bringing all the mechanism directly connected with the pattern-chain to one side of the loom, so thatone broad pattern-chain serves to control the boxes at both sides. But for some purposes in simple weaving it is better to connect the cams on cach side'of .the loom permanently to their shafts, so that the boxes will work in oppositeldirections, and counterbalance each other, in whichl case a single ratchet, fixed on each shaft, is sucient.

The mode o f operation of this combination of mechanism to yplace the shuttle-boxes in position is as follows: I

Thev cam II is of such form, and so proportioned to the length of the lever E, that when its bearing upon the cam is changed from the smallestto the largest radius of the cam, and the point of the lever is held stationary, `the other end of the lever, which is connected with the boxes, will be raised through a space equal to two hores, and 'vz'ee versa. The cam I also is so formed and proportioned to the length of the lever, that when thebearing f the lever is changed from the smallest to the largest radius of the cam, it will impart a motion to the opposite endyof the lever and shuttle-boxes suiiicient to move the'boxes one grade. Now, asla movement 4equalrto one notchl of either ratchetiwill carry its cam from one of these positions to the other, it follows that, by the separate or united action of the two cams upon the levers, every one of the four boxes may be brought to the race, from any other position, at every pick.

If a series of, say, seven boxes is to be operated, the cams H and I should be made of the form proper to be used with what is known in the trade as a reverse motion, or where the cam is made to work in both directions, with the two faces of the elevated parts of the same made different, as is shown by the red lines in g.4. Such a cam would require nine` teeth iu the ratchet, so that a movement equal to one notch of the ratchet-Would rotate the cam so as to carry the bearing-point of the lever from one 'extreme of vertical movement to the other, and, when moving in the opposite direction, this distance would be divided into two or more grades. For this `purpose an additional set of ratchets and mechanism for operating the same from the pawl N, under control `of I the pattern-chain, would be required for each cam. In this case the arms of the leverl E and radii of the cam II are to be so proportioned to each other that the change of the bearingfpoint of the leverfrom the greatest to the least radius will move the boxes through four spaces, and the intermediate grade of the cam will inove the boxes through two spaces. The cem I is also to be so proportioned to the lever that, by its greatest change at the point b, it will mov'e the boxes through two spaces, and, by the intermediate grade of the cam, it will move the boxes throu'gh one space; then by the joint and separate action of the cams, in one direction or the other, any box of the seven can be brought to the race', from any other position, at every pick.

For working a series of an intermediate number of boxes, a cam such as is last mentioned may be used at H, with the cam at L, such as is shown in the drawing.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patentis 1. The combination of the lever E with the two cam-'wheels H and I, arranged with and actingon said .M lever, at different points in its length, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the lever E, the .cam H, and its hook-rod or rods for operating the same, and the cam I and its hook-rod or rods forfoperating th'e same, with the vibrating paw] or driver N, and the levers P `andthe pattern-chain, and their accessories, for controlling the movements of the shuttle-boxes, substantially as described.

Erecuted at Boston, this 20th day of January,.1868. A

JOHN `ASHllV'ORlH. Witnesses:

Guss. A. JORDAN, N. C. LOMBARD. 

